A.M. Roundup – Hospital Closing Edition (Updated)

The Berger commission report is scheduled to be formally released at an 11 a.m. press conference, but much of its contents have already been leaked to various media outlets. All told, at least nine hospitals are expected to be on the chopping block, as well as numerous mergers and downsizings that will also affect local nursing homes.Â Â

The TU’s Jim Odato has the details, with a focus on the local impact. A pushback has already begun, with the president of Bellevue Women’s Hospital, the Niskayuna facility slated for closure, pledging to “find a way to stay here.”

In Buffalo, (soon to be ex) Democratic Assemblyman Paul Tokasz plans to hold a news conference today to protest the proposed closing of St. Joseph Hospital there. “I’m not happy,” he told the New YorkÂ Times. “I’m prepared to argueÂ that we need to reject this plan.”

The governor has until Dec. 5 to send the report to the state Legislature, which an aide close to him told OdatoÂ he is inclined to doÂ withÂ the recommendations largely in tact. The Legislature has until Dec. 31 to reject or approve theÂ report it receives in full. It can make no changes.

The state is on tap to receive $1.5 billion in federal aid to modernize its health care system if it cuts costs by downsizing. A number of hospitals slated to closure or restructuring have already received state grants to help ease the transition.

This whole situation will give an enormous amount of power to the next stateÂ health commissioner, whoÂ will be in charge of overseeing this grand plan. Â

Meanwhile, Ken Raske, head of the Greater New York Hospital Association, the employer partner to health care union SEIU/Local 1199, called the size of the restructuring proposed by the report “astronomical,” and warned it could lead to fewer services.

SEIU/1199 itself sent out an emergencyÂ newsletter to its members, warning them: “It will be much, much harder for our voice to be heard this time,” The Post reported. Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer has made it clear he supports the concept of closing some hospitals to help control spiraling health care costs.

Expect this issue to dominate the news for some time. There were other stories today. More on that after the jump:

Employees at the state Insurance Department not covered by civil service were thrown into a panic when they received – on Thanksgiving Eve – “survival kit” notices on how to get health insurance if they lose their jobs when the Spitzer administration takes control.

There’s more where that came from. It’s going to be a bumpy ride for many exempt state workers over the next few months.

Former Onondaga County GOP Chairman Bob Smith is out of the running for the state chair post, and Nassau County GOP Chairman Joe Mondello posied to sweep it, but not everyone is happy with that.

Some state Republicans say theirÂ best hope for the future might lie in former Westchester County DA and failed state AG candidate Jeanine Pirro.

A celebratory reception held for U.S. Rep.-elect Mike Arcuri at a Catholic church angered the Oneida County Right-to-Life Committee.

The news in NYC is focused largely on the deadly hail of bullets unleashed over the weekend by NYPD cops, who killed an unarmed bridegroom on the eve of his wedding. More on that here, and here, and here, and here.

In ’08 news, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani won a nationwide popularity poll released yesterday by Quinnipiac University. U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) came in second, and U.S. Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ) finished third. U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) was ninth.